The need for venting hot and humid air from building spaces beneath roofs is well known. Without adequate and controlled ventilation of attics and like spaces, damage results to the roof structure, as well as to articles stored within the attic or like space. For instance, accumulated attic heat during cold winters may melt snow on the roof which can then refreeze in and damage gutters and drainage systems. Furthermore, lack of proper ventilation makes cooling and heating the remainder of the building more difficult, and permits the accumulation of condensed moisture which reduces effectiveness of insulation and may result in stained interior panels as well as promote mildew.
Although there are many known ridge cap ventilators and systems for ventilating roofs, each is frequently deficient in several respects. In many cases, the ventilator or ventilating system is bulky, cumbersome and very expensive to manufacture. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,241,474 and 4,201,121. Such ventilators also problematic because they are not easily adapted to a wide variety of roof angles or roof surfaces. Yet other apparatus suffers from an inability to achieve complete ventilation, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,056. On the other hand, some know devices fail to properly regulate air flow through a building space because they educt air too quickly. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,657. Many ventilating apparatus have high profiles which necessitate additional building materials and expense and destroy the aesthetic character of the roof. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,241,474; 4,611,443; and 4,776,262. A problem common to all these devices is an inadequate ability to exclude insects and other pests.
Thus, there is a need for roof ventilating apparatus that is simple in construction, durable and easy to adapt to the existing conformities of a roof, that is low in profile relative to the roof structure, that is capable of providing full circulation without leaving dead spots where hot, humid air can accumulate and that is capable of preventing insects and other pests from entering the building space.